Podcasts

Dr. Steven Gerndt is a cardiothoracic surgeon, speaker, and leadership mentor who developed the concept “Civilitas,” a system-wide cultural transformation focused on psychological safety and fostering of leadership by example. In this episode, Dr. Gerndt talks about his work dedicated to helping organizations and people navigate personal crises through counseling, affirmation, and empathy. He emphasizes the critical importance of allowing people in crisis to be heard.

In this week’s Resilient Surgeon episode, Sheila Heen, a lecturer on negotiation at Harvard Law School and co-author of Thanks for the Feedback and Difficult Conversations, talks about giving and receiving feedback and how we can be better at both. Specifically, Heen explains how to be less dismissive in the way we receive feedback and become genuinely grateful and appreciative of feedback from others. She also talks about creating a productive feedback culture in the workplace.

Former US Navy Commander Mike Abrashoff joins Dr. Michael Maddaus for a conversation on leadership with humanity. Abrashoff shares his success in turning around a struggling ship, the USS Benfold, which became the subject of his New York Times bestselling book, It's Your Ship. Learn how to know when it's appropriate to break the rules, when to challenge your superiors, how to do so without endangering your career and how to foster learning and innovation among the ranks of people conditioned to follow orders.

Join Dr. Michael Maddaus, host of The Resilient Surgeon, for a discussion with Amer Kaissi, professor of healthcare administration at Trinity University in San Antonio and author of Humbitious: The Power of Low Ego, High-Drive Leadership, about embracing change with an open approach rather than a defensive stance. Kaissi explains that when leaders "connect with humility and elevate with ambition" they can transform organizations.

It's not what you do — it's what you do in-between what you do — that really matters. In this episode of The Resilient Surgeon, Dr. Michael Maddaus talks with Dr. Adam Fraser, leading educator and researcher on human performance and author of The Third Space: Using Life's Little Transitions to Find Balance and Happiness, about transitioning from one role, such as a surgeon, to the next role, such as a spouse or parent. Dr.

Healthcare - and life- are filled with friction. In this episode, Dr. Michael Maddaus talks with Huggy Rao, co-author of The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier, about eliminating the forces that make it harder to get things done. Together, they dig into causes and solutions for five of the most common and damaging friction troubles: oblivious leaders, addition sickness, broken connections, jargon monoxide, and fast and frenzied people and teams.

Harvard Business School professor, researcher of psychological safety, and author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, Amy Edmondson, explains the difference between good and bad failures and how to think about and practice failure wisely.  She shares examples of how people and organizations can embrace human fallibility, pursue smart risks, and prevent avoidable harm.

According to James Danckert, professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo and co-author of Out Of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom, “Boredom feels uncomfortable because it is pushing you to be the person that’s in control, to acknowledge that you’re the author of your own life." In this first episode of season four of The Resilient Surgeon, Dr. Michael Maddaus speaks with Danckert about the purpose of boredom and how it can help us find meaning in our lives.

In this season finale of Same Surgeon, Different Light, co-host Dr. Thomas Varghese speaks with Dr. Stephanie Fuller, attending surgeon in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. and chair of the STS Workforce on Annual Meeting, about creating a life of impact. For Dr. Fuller, it's about positioning herself for new learning opportunities - both expected and unexpected. "Lessons will come from all sorts of people along your pathway. Be receptive to anybody willing to teach you," she advises.

Isabelle Opitz, MD, the director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and an associate professor for thoracic surgery at the University of Zurich, as well as the chair of the Lung Cancer Center in Zurich, talks with Dr. Thomas Varghese about her international career path, spanning Germany, France, and Switzerland, in this episode of Same Surgeon, Different Light.

In this episode, Dr. Thomas Varghese joins Dr. Yolonda Colson, chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, for an insightful conversation on the advancement of women in cardiothoracic surgery. Dr. Colson shares her origin story - "from farm to field" - as an accomplished surgeon and scientist. What does it take to become a consistently high performer? Dr. Colson advises, "Stay focused on your purpose stay open to new opportunities."

In this episode of The Same Surgeon, Different Light, podcast host Dr. Thomas Varghese explores the opportunities, the rewards, the sacrifice, and the struggles in life as a cardiothoracic surgeon with Dr. Mimi Ceppa, a thoracic surgeon at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Ceppa shares her family's journey as immigrants from Vietnam to Canada, the expectations placed on her to become a doctor, what it takes to get into medical school, and how she balances her career with her personal life. No doubt, it's a "can't miss" episode.